An Innocent Boy
by ShiningAura
Summary: Flamegirl is late for a "Stop the Hackers!" meeting with Nylocke. In her haste she bumps into a new player and friendship blossoms. (Pre episode 1) AlphaxFlamey Fluff.


**Are you happy now plot bunny?, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!**

***Ahem* yeah this idea surfaced into my brain and it just wouldn't go away. My first fanfic that isn't pokemon in awhile AND it's a fanfic for a popular web series. I'm scared.**

**But it has to be done this series needs more fanfics, and since I have this idea egging me on...I'm just gonna shut up now.**

**Oh one more thing, I do not own TOME, The awesome Chris Niosi does.**

The year 2020 bought many things, but very few expected such a video game sensation to literally dominate computer screens. Now mind you this wasn't the first time virtual reality was attempted. Gamers even in this day and age know how badly the ill-fated Virtual Boy flopped. However Netking Software were the first programmers to do it right, and heck the first to make it actually Virtual Reality, just like in those futuristic TV shows. Gamers and non-gamers alike were blown away. Even World of Warcraft paled in comparison to this certain game.

TOME,(or Terrain of Magical Expertise if you wanna get technical) was the world's first "real" Virtual Reality game and it took the world by storm. It was in all the newspapers, all the magazines, and all the gaming forums. It got nothing but high praises from critics left and right and even hit the Guinness Book of Records. TOME was the biggest phenomenon since Bronies!

TOME is divided into three areas, Sanctuary, a beautiful lush green field where players can just, well hang out, Mech City, a city based area where players can hang out or if both players agree, duke it out using a Battle Grid and Lavendera, a purple wasteland where you fight to survive.

Mech City is where our story takes place. It was quite busy at this time of day. (Or night depending on the time zones.) There was probably nearly 200 people either talking to one another, or battling one another. A cheetah themed player almost got ran over when a female player rushed past, making an extremely fast beeline for the exit of Mech City and into Lavendera. She had bat wings, long brown hair and green eyes. She also wore a lot of red and orange.

"I'm so late, I'm so late, I'm so late." she kept mumbling to herself as she rushed passed everyone who were now watching her, wondering what the big rush was. Unbeknownst to them this player had promised a friend that she would meet them in Lavendera to brainstorm another plan to put a to hackers, which have become a huge problem as of late, half an hour ago!

_I'm gonna kill Whyti and Sat for this._ she thought bitterly as she headed towards the next corner but didn't expect someone to come from the other way. She gasped and tried to stop but she was going too fast and same as if you were driving a car, a fatal crash was inevitable.

_THUMP!_

Both players landed on the virtual pavement. The female's face glowed with embarrassment as onlookers laughed at her predicament. At least nothing really "hurts" in this game. A very mild and very brief pins and needles sensation was all that came off the fall. The female player picked herself up and held her hand out to the player she had so rudely bumped into.

"You alright? I'm so sorry! I should've been paying more attention."

The player, who was now sitting on his bottom was undoubtedly male. He wore mostly blue and had red hair which stuck up similarly to Vegeta from Dragonball Z, except some of it hung over his right eye. The eye that the female player could see was a striking blue. She couldn't help thinking that he was kinda cute. The male player stared for a brief moment then accepted the female's hand. She was surprised by how gentle his grip was. With one heave she pulled him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" she asked again. "I honestly didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay." said the male in a somewhat quiet and shy voice. He gave her a small smile. "Wasn't expecting that sort of welcome."

"Oh you're new?" asked the female.

"Yeah, logged in for the first time just now actually." said the male meekly rubbing the back of his head.

The female smiled.

"Well then, welcome to TOME, I guess." she held out her hand for a handshake. "I'm Flamegirl, or just Flamey if you want, and you are?"

"Errr...Alpha." said the male accepting Flamegirl's hand once more.

Flamegirl quite liked his screen name, though she was a little surprised that it hadn't already been taken. Flamegirl decided that since Alpha seemed a bit shy she would try to make feel welcome.

"So...erm...I like your character." she muttered feeling her cheeks instantly warm up.

_Reeeaaal smooth, Flamey. Good job._

Alpha looked down at his feet, likely to hide his own blush.

"Err...thanks...I like yours too. Fire huh?"

Flamegirl immediately perked up, happy and relieved to have a conversation topic.

"Yup, Pyrokinesis is my all time favourite power. I really like the warmth and the colors, you know red, yellow and orange. Fire is very creepy aswell though. It's beautiful but deadly at the same time. One false move and..."

Flamegirl stopped mid-sentence, realising she had started rambling.

"Hehe Sorry, I must be boring you."

Alpha smiled and shook his head.

"Not at all."

Flamegirl smiled in appreciation, but all the same she searched her brain for another subject. It wasn't long before she came up with something.

"So...how are you gonna set up your abilities? You won't be able to battle or enter Lavendera until you've done so.."

Alpha sheepishly rubbed the back of his head again.

"Well I've been thinking about it since I've bought the game, but I haven't really come up with anything yet."

Flamegirl thought for a moment. This was easy for her thanks to her love of fire, but thinking of abilities for someone else was a different matter.

"Well what are you into?" she asked hoping that would help.

Alpha gave a small smile.

"Greek Mythology"

"There you go." said a now beaming Flamegirl. "You could base your abilities of that. There's plenty of mythology related abilities to choose from. Here I'll show you."

Flamegirl spent the next ten minutes showing Alpha all sorts of abilities. He seemed to really like the Orion Shield, which not only acts as a shield but can be thrown at other players like a boomerang.

"So...how long have you been on TOME?" asked Alpha once he finished finalising his setup.

"Oh...about three months now give or take." said Flamegirl with a shrug. "TOME had already been out for around that time by the time I got it." Flamegirl then suddenly got an idea, but was unsure if Alpha would go for it. Still it never hurts to ask. "Hey if you want maybe you could...you know, stick with me. I could maybe show you the ropes, you know, the ins and outs of TOME? I mean if you'd rather not that's fine. It's just a suggestion is all."

Alpha smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, that would be a big help."

Flamegirl was slightly taken aback at first but nodded.

"Alright. It's a deal then, and I'm sure you'll fit in fine with..."

"Hey, Flamey!"

Flamegirl turned around to see an imp that looked remarkably a lot like Link from The Legend of Zelda, except he wore mostly grey instead of green as well as dark brown hair.

"Hey Kirb, what's up?" she greeted.

"Well, it seems that a certain someone forgot about their little meeting with Nye, because he sent me to come find you. In his usual "I live in the middle ages!" fashion of course" said the imp now known as Kirb.

Flamegirl's eyes widened with realization.

"OH MY GOD! I totally forgot! I was suppose to meet Nylocke in Lavendera AGES ago!"

Alpha jumped back, obviously startled by his new friend's outburst.

"S...sorry I didn't mean to hold you up."

"Who's the new guy?" asked Kirb. "Don't tell me this loser is the reason you're late."

"Hey!" growled Alpha.

"Kirb, be nice!" scolded Flamegirl.

"Yes, Mother." said Kirb, sarcasm completely evident in his voice.

Flamegirl just sighed.

"Anywaaaay... Alpha, Kirbopher, Kirbopher, Alpha." she introduced motioning to each player as she did. "Or if you prefer, you could call him Kir-boph-er." she added with a smirk.

Kirbopher gave Flamegirl a look that clearly said _"You did that on purpose!"_

"Hi." said Alpha giving a small wave.

"Yeah, same to you." said Kirbopher in a bored tone. "Anyway I gave you the message Flamey, So I'll be off."

With that Kirbopher walked away from the duo and logged off.

"Kirb may seem like a jerk at first glance, but deep down he's a real softie." Flamegirl told Alpha. "Although I have to keep reminding myself of that most of the time" she added with annoyance.

Alpha let out a little laugh.

"He does seem quite fun to hang out with."

Flamegirl nodded.

"I really need to get going now though." she said . "I've kept poor Nye waiting long enough. Oh actually you should come along too so you could meet him. No time like the present right?"

"Errm, sure. Why not?" said Alpha.

"Alright then, I'll show you the way, erm, little warning first though; you might want to keep an open mind."

Alpha looked slightly nervous but nodded. "Erm okay?"

So Flamegirl and her new friend, Alpha headed for Lavendera to finally meet up with her friends, blissfully unaware of the hardships they would be going through in the months to come.

**The End.**


End file.
